The d 44 from another xj will be a bolt in swap. I did my d35-8.25 swap in under an hour it's easy

 

If you really want 38s don't waste your time with D44s. I'm running one up front with chromos and still break shafts from time to time. I've broken the 35 spline chromos in my rear D60 as well. 38s will require tons and to put them in an XJ is a ton of work not just on the axles themselves but to beef up the unitbody to handle them.

 

 

8.8s not bad, make sure you weld the tubes to the housing. They'll hold 37s if you're easy on it. I'm just not a fan of c-clip axles. The stock carrier is known to be rather weak as well.

 

I welded the tubes on mine while I was doing the swap. Im currently running 31s and will go to 33s in the future but that's it for me. Just building a trail rig not a rock crawler. I paid 150 bucks for a 8.8 with Limited slip and matched my front gears so it was a deal I couldn't pass up!

 

I agree with 93xjli, 35"s max on a D30, (with a light throttle foot), anything bigger needs 1 ton axles.
I have a pile of D-30 parts to prove this.
Swapping in a front 60 is no harder than swapping in a D44 if you have to run 38's.

 

Screw it, just throw a d44 in the rear and keep the 3.55 gears and slap some 39.5" tires on. You'll be good lol you would think 35" is max for the d30 but there is a guy on naxja running 40" on it and hasn't exploded, and he's wheeling it HARD! Lol

 

I've wheeled with him. the 3.55's leave it a gutless pig. he can't spin the tires fast enough to get over some rocks let alone snap something. coolest guy to wheel with though

theres another guy on the same part of the forum, as soon as he put 36's on he broke his D30 4.88 on the first run. took a huge loss on the D30, WJ brake upgrade chromos and all

me on the other hand, heavy amount of skinny pedal on my D30/4.56/lightweight 35's setup was great

but since the D30 brakes suck and you can only go 4.88, you'd have to be tarded to run anything bigger than a 35's

 

looks like you have an amazing rig sir

since this thread is probably going no where useful you should definitely post up some pics

 

Ya as far as the theory goes, they're thinkings it's the 3.55 gears is what's keeping it from exploding, kinda acts like its own torque limiter. Plus at 3.55 it has two more teeth and mesh than at 4.88 so I can see that lol

 

yeah exactly. it's just one of those jeep world phenomenon's lol. he's supposed to be working on a 1 ton build but he's having too much fun wheeling el junky to bother with it

 

If I ever get another jeep I'm probably for sh**s and giggles will follow in his shoes, just a toy to play with and see how long the 30 can last lol I've been curious though if 3.73-4.10 gears would slightly help while still holding back enough torque not to snap/explode the axle

 

I went with the hp44 and ford 9" welded front mini spool rear. running 15x7.5 alluminum wheels. pry the best mod ive done. pushed the front wheels forward now the wheel base is 105.5 x 75 before it was 101.5 x 72. I dont plan on running anything on the street bigger than my 35s but wheeling I plan on going 37s after a regear.

 

Axle swap on a xj and easy never mix.Easy would be a 87 back gm truck/k5 blazer maybe a f350.

 

Thanks Atmos, I went the D30/D44 route with our box Cherokee all the way to Super 30 front kit and chromo's in the 44.
Broke a lot of D30 parts, finally did a 1 ton swap and 39" red labels.
Rig did awesome I just got to a point that I needed more power so the grand buggy was born.
I'm new to this forum but I'll try to get some pics up.

Back on topic, a slightly modified Cherokee on 33's to 35's is a blast to wheel and can take you places you probably should not go.
Any bigger tires and you need to start thinking about 1 tons.
I upgraded my D30 three times before this lesson sank in.